Wildfires diminish U.S. air quality
West Coast blazes make nation’s skies worse while much of world sees improvement during pandemic
While pandemic lockdowns helped improve air quality worldwide in 2020, the U.S. saw its air quality worsen — particularly on the West Coast — thanks largely to record-setting wildfires.
And while Southern California dominated the list of most polluted U.S. cities in 2019, the fires of 2020 moved that distinction to central and Northern California, according to the annual report released Tuesday by IQ Air, a Swiss company that has partnered with the United Nations to create the world’s largest air-quality data platform.
Improved air quality was recorded by 84% of the 106 countries surveyed, but areas hit by major wildfires, which also included Australia, Siberia and South America, did not share in the benefits.
“These events resulted in major air
pollution spikes in these areas while also emitting copious greenhouse gases,” the report says.
The West Coast fires hurt air quality worst in September, when the U.S. accounted for 77 of the world’s 100 most polluted cities and towns, and California locales topped the list. In 2020, overall, particulate pollution, also known as soot, increased in the U.S. 6.7% from 2019.
Compared with other nations, though, the United States ranked 22nd of the 106 countries and territories monitored for the calendar year. While that was a drop from the 12th best the previous year, U.S. air quality on an annual basis remained better than in most countries.
Bangladesh had the worst air, followed by Pakistan and India. Sweden had the best scores, followed by Finland and Norway.
The report noted that while the U.S. Clean Air Act has reduced particulate air pollution over the past five decades despite a growing economy and population, levels began increasing again in 2016. Besides the increased wildfires spurred by climate change in recent years, air quality has been hurt by regulatory rollbacks and lack of enforcement of the Clean Air Act under the Trump administration, the report says.
“This regression is estimated to have contributed to an additional 9,700 premature deaths in 2018 and an economic cost of $89 billion,” according to IQAir.